Mr. Michael J. DeMoor

Michael DeMoorAssistant Professor of Social Philosophy in Politics, History and Economics
A226, 780-465-3500 x8195
Our email addresses are First Name dot Last Name at kingsu.ca.

Education
Ph.D. (pending) Free University of Amsterdam/ Institute for Christian Studies (ABD)
M. Phil. F. Institute for Christian Studies (2003)
BA The King’s University College (2000)

 

Research Interests

  1. Social Ontology
  2. Democracy and Plurality
  3. Christian Social and Political Thought
  4. History of Social and Political Thought

Current Research

Social practice accounts of objectivity and normativity in Robert Brandom and G.W.F. Hegel.

PHIL 230 - Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 320 - Philosophy of the Environment
PHIL 339 - Philosophical Ethics
PHIL 343 - Medieval Philosophy
PHIL 345 - Philosophy from Descartes to Kant

Courses I Teach

POLI 200 - Invitation to Politics and Government
POLI 310 - History of Political Thought I: Classical and Medieval Political Thought
POLI 311 - History of Political Thought II: Modern Political Thought
POLI 317 - Christian Social and Political Movements (since the French Revolution)
PHES 495 - Senior PHE Seminar

Selected Publications

“Kuyper, Sphere Sovereignty, and the Possibility of Political Friendship” The Kuyper Center Review: Volume One: Politics, Religion, and Sphere Sovereignty, ed. Gordon Graham. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010; pp. 61-82 

“Christian Philosophy, Critical Realism and the Apprehension of Existence: Etienne Gilson’s ‘Knowledge and Existence’” Études Maritainiennes/Maritain Studies [Forthcoming]

“The Philosophy of Art in Reid’s Inquiry and its Place in 18th Century Scottish Aesthetics.” Journal of Scottish Philosophy 4 (2006), no. 1: 37-49.

“Autonomous Rationality and Rational Autonomy: Kant, Fichte and Dooyeweerd on Subjectivity, Objectivity and Normativity.” Philosophia Reformata 72 (2007), no. 2: 105-129.

Selected Presentations

“Kuyper, Sphere Sovereingty and the Possibility of Civic Friendship” Civil Society and Sphere Sovereignty Conference, April 17-19, 2008, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton NJ.

“Holism and the Constitutive A Priori: Hegel, Quine and Friedman” Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science annual conference, May 28-31, 2007, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK.

“(Over) Reading the Analogy to Light: A Structural Argument about the Active Intellect” Reading Aristotle’s De Anima conference, September 28-30, 2006, Bishop’s University, Lennoxville, Quebec.

“Friedman’s Neo-Kantianism and Quinean Holism: Possibilities for Rapprochement” Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science annual conference, May 29-31, 2006, York University, Toronto.

“Understanding Reasonable Disagreements in Liberal Societies: Rawls and Stout.” Discourse, Democracy, Justice Conference, Loyola University, Chicago IL, March 10-12, 2006.

“The Philosophy of Art in Reid’s Inquiry and its Place in the Tradition of 18th Century Scottish Aesthetics.” Hume and His Critics Conference.  April 14-16, 2005, Baylor University, Waco TX.

“Reid’s Aristotle and the Aristotelian Reid.” 3rd International Reid Symposium on Scottish Philosophy.  July 14, 2004, University of Aberdeen, U.K.

“Aristotle and Hegel on Private Property and the Common Good” Canadian Political Science Association Conference, June 2010.


Related Links

Politics, History & Economics Degree (PHE)

Introduction to Philosophy, Every Year, Fall and Winter 3(3-0-0)
This course is an introduction to philosophy based on a reading of representative texts from the philosophical tradition. The issues connecting the texts to be read center on the nature of human being and experience.
Philosophy of the Environment Every Year, Winter 3(3-0-0)
A historical and systematic study of the structure and normed character of the various relationships between human beings and their environment. The ethical, aesthetic, or metaphysical ramifications of certain major environmental problems such as pollution, overpopulation, or resource exhaustion will be considered.
Prerequisites: PHIL 230
Philosophical Ethics, 2009-10, Winter 3(3-0-0)
A critical examination of the nature of morality by means of an analysis of classical and contemporary texts. Questions examined include: What is the nature of moral judgment? How are moral decisions justified? What is the relationship between virtue and moral behavior? What is the relationship between happiness and moral duty? Why be moral at all?
Prerequisites: PHIL 230
Medieval Philosophy, 2008-09, Winter 3(3-0-0)
The course introduces the student to the main figures and ideas in the history of philosophy from 350 A.D. to 1350 A.D. Beginning with Augustine and the Church Fathers, the course covers the development of philosophy in Western Europe through Aquinas and his immediate successors. Special attention is paid to such issues as the relation of faith and reason, the idea of Christian philosophy, and the concepts of divinity, creation, human freedom and sin.
Prerequisites: PHIL 230
Philosophy from Descartes to Kant, 2009-10, Fall 3(3-0-0)
This course is a survey of the origins and development of philosophy from Descartes to Kant. Special attention is paid to the relationship between epistemological ideas and political, ethical and religious thought.
Prerequisites: PHIL 230
Invitation to Politics and Government, Every Year, Fall 3(3-0-0)
A systematic introduction to politics and political science, this course introduces the main problems, concepts, and ideologies underlying domestic and international politics.
History of Political Thought I: Classical and Medieval Political Thought, 2009-10, Fall 3(3-0-0)
Examines major developments in the history of Western political thought from the ancient Greeks and Romans through the Christian period up to the Renaissance, with particular attention given to key writings by Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas. Examines themes such as the justice, the state, politics, plurality, constitutionalism, power, war and the individual. Same as PHIL 310.
Prerequisites: PHIL 230 or POLI 200 or 201
History of Political Thought II: Modern Political Thought, 2009-10, Winter 3(3-0-0)
Examines the major social and political ideas developed in the modern era, focusing on select writings of major political philosophers such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx and Nietzsche. Same as PHIL 311.
Prerequisites: PHIL 230 or POLI 200 or 201
Christian Social and Political Movements, 2008-09, Winter 3(3-0-0)
This course examines the development of Christian social and political ideas and movements within Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions since the French Revolution (1789). It explores the context in which these movements arose, their distinctive ideas and strategies, as well as the practical changes they advocated. Special attention will be given to the way these movements tackled several key contemporary issues and the eventual outcomes of these efforts. Same as HIST 317 and SOCI 317.
Prerequisites: HIST 203 or POLI 200 or 201 or three credits in sociology at the introductory level.
PHES-495 Senior PHES Seminar, Every Year, Winter 3(0-3-0)
All students graduating from the PHE program are required to take this course. The course is designed to integrate the perspectives and practical implications of the different courses encountered in the program. It intends to prepare students for the practical application of their knowledge by an interdisciplinary and in-depth engagement with the Canadian public context in comparison to other national contexts and its relationships to a globalized world. In a seminar setting, it will use guided written research inputs from students, as well as topical inputs from the instructor, to hone analytical, rhetorical and presentation skills.
Prerequisites: Nine credits in at least one of the three constituent disciplines at the 300 or 400 level or consent of the instructor. Course can only be taken in the final year of the degree.